We have a new saint! After decades of prayer by Serrans and other Catholics, our patron, Franciscan missionary Father Junípero Serra, was canonized by Pope Francis at a special Mass in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. Serrans from across the U.S. and 10 other countries joined an estimated 24,000 faithful converging on the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the first canonization Mass celebrated in the United States. It was the largest public event during the Pope’s wildly popular three-day visit to Washington.

The Mass was celebrated outdoors on the east portico of the basilica, the largest Roman Catholic church in the United States and one of the 10 largest in the world. A large stage was constructed for the Mass, with seating and standing room areas for the assembly extending onto the grounds of the adjacent Catholic University of America. The D.C. area had showers Monday and earlier in the day Tuesday, the day before the Mass, but the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly by the time the Pope’s plane arrived at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday afternoon. The weather was picture perfect for all papal events Wednesday and Thursday, with showers again in the forecast the day after Pope Francis departed for New York.

Serra International was not able to obtain Mass tickets for all Serrans who had indicated they planned to travel to Washington, but the leadership tried their best to accommodate as many as possible. In all, about 90 Serrans attended the Mass.

Two buses hired by Serra International left the hotel shortly after 1:00 p.m. and dropped off the ticket holders by about 2:00 near one of the entrances for the Mass, which was scheduled to begin at 4:15. There was a crowd of several hundred people at the security station there, but everyone was upbeat with anticipation as they waited over two hours to pass through security screening. Once past that hurdle, there was more difficulty as the lengthy wait caused many of those who had tickets for one of the seated sections to wind up temporarily in the rear of a standing room section farther back from the altar. However, they were unexpectedly rewarded a few minutes later with a close up view when Pope Francis made his entrance to the grounds in the Popemobile and passed twice along a walkway separating the seating area from the standing room area.

The view of the Mass was certainly better for those watching on TV than for most of those present in person, but all who were there found it a wonderfully spiritual and moving experience, truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Most of the multilingual Mass was in Spanish, but it mattered little for those who don’t speak the language. The beautifully done Mass program provided help with translations, and captioning on the large screens on either side of the altar assisted those who had a good line of sight to them.

The extraordinary security measures had many areas around the basilica and CUA campus locked down until the Pope had departed the area, causing Serrans and their guests who attended the Mass to work up a big appetite walking seemingly endlessly for a couple of hours until they were finally able to meet up well after dark with the buses that would take them back to the hotel. Back at the Hyatt, 240 Serrans and guests attended a banquet to celebrate the canonization. The banquet had been planned to start at 7:00 but was delayed until about 9:00 to accommodate the Mass-goers. Though the hour was late when the banquet began, all were exuberant about the events of the day.

Article and photo by Don Simoneaux, Serra Club of North Central Dallas

View more fantastic photos of the event at these online galleries by Don Simoneaux and Greg Lynch, Jr.

Tags:
Junipero Serra
canonization

]]>https://serraphil.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/serrans-celebrate-st-junipero-serra-canonization/feed/0serranblessdiwacanomassOctober 31 International Rosary for Vocations Conference Callhttps://serraphil.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/october-31-international-rosary-for-vocations-conference-call/
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Please join us on Saturday, October 31, at 9:00 PM Singapore time for our third monthly international prayer of the Rosary for vocations.

This Rosary will be led by Serra leaders in Asia: Past Serra International President Sean Yeo (Serra Club of Singapore), Serra Club of Bangalore President Jeanette D’Souza, Serra Council of Thailand President Joseph Vinij Vasupongpipat, and Peter Leong, Past President of the Serra Club of Macau.

Let us use today’s technology to unite us in our Serran mission through prayer. Humble prayer plants the seed of all great things, including awareness, affirmation, support and awakening to the call of vocations. Please join us!

Rosary Conference Call Etiquette

Quiet Please
The Phone: If possible, use a regular telephone. Good quality cell phones with a clear signal also work. Avoid using the speaker function.
Call from somewhere quiet – away from pets, children, your spouse or coworkers – where you won’t be disturbed. Put a “Do not Disturb” sign on your doorbell or office door. Turn off the TV and any music.
Mute: When necessary, use the “mute” button on your phone to keep out background noises, breathing, coughing, sneezing, etc.
Don’t use the “hold” button FOR ANY REASON. It might make a buzzing in the line that can be heard by other callers. If you are calling in from work and have “music on hold,” the music will be heard by the other participants and interrupt the call.

Dialing In
Be on time! Have the conference call phone number and participant access code (if any) ready so you don’t have to search for it at the last minute. Try to call in just a minute or two before the official start time.
Note long distance: Please note that in most cases you’ll be calling a long-distance number, and that cost will show up on your telephone phone bill. (Unless you’ve got an unlimited long distance plan.)
No answer: If the phone rings but you get no answer – or if the participant access code will not work – you might have misdialed or you are calling at the wrong time. Check the number and the time (and the code) and redial.
If you arrive late, do not interrupt the prayer. Remain silent and catch up as best you can.

Call Courtesy
Focus on the call: Be courteous to your conference call leader and your fellow participants by giving your full attention to the prayer of the Rosary.
When the call is over, feel free to say goodbye to everyone and hang up.
If you must leave early, do not interrupt the prayer by announcing your departure. Just hang up.

Limited number of tickets
to be distributed by random lottery
and
Serra International celebration events
in Washington, D.C.
September 9, 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Serra,

On January 15, 2015, the Holy Father announced his intention to canonize our patron, Blessed Junípero Serra, during his Apostolic Visit to the United States. Since that announcement was made, the Holy Spirit infused new energy throughout our apostolate for vocations.

Plan Special Events Locally with the Help of Club Media Kits

Serrans around the world are planning activities on the day of the canonization and afterward to celebrate Blessed Serra’s rise to sainthood. Serra International has created media kits that you can use locally to celebrate this event and raise awareness of the wonderful work that your Serra club performs. The kit can be purchased from the Serra Store at this link: https://www.serrastore.org/store/catalog/1021-MGAK.

Tickets for the Canonization Mass

Serra International established a canonization committee, composed of the Serra International president, current and past Serra council presidents, past Serra International presidents, Serra International board members, and other Serrans from around the world, to procure and distribute a block of tickets for the canonization. This group has worked diligently to secure the largest possible block of tickets for the canonization. We are still working hard to acquire more tickets for Serrans.

The tickets in our block will be distributed between Serra’s leadership and those Serrans who have expressed interested in attending the canonization.

The tickets for Serrans who have expressed interested in attending the canonization will be selected via a lottery system. Serrans selected via this lottery system will be offered one (1) ticket for their own personal use only.

If a Serran selected via the lottery system is unwilling or unable to accept his or her ticket, the next person selected via the random draw lottery system will be offered the ticket. The winners of this lottery will be contacted on Friday, Sept. 11, 2015.

Serrans who have previously expressed interest in attending the canonization have already been entered into the lottery system.

Please e-mail John Liston at jliston@serrainternational.org by no later than Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, if you would like your name added to the lottery.

Join Our Celebration Events in Washington, D.C.

We have planned some special events for Serrans which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C. on the day of Serra’s canonization. These include:
• Vocations seminar hosted by USA Council Vocations Vice President Judy Cozzens
• Live streaming viewing party of the papal motorcade and Canonization Mass
• Celebratory dinner (go here to purchase dinner tickets)

Watch the Canonization Mass from the Comfort of Your Own Home

Both EWTN and Salt+Light will be live streaming the Canonization Mass. The Mass is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. (Eastern United States Times).

Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us!
There’s never been a better time to introduce our special Serran mission
to the world. Would you like to help?
Please contribute to the Serra Spread the Word Fund!